Changing state residency.

Paying for College
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am a high school senior who has recently turned 18. I want to go to an out of state college, and need to change my residency for in-state tuition. My grandparents live in the same state I want to go to. Although I will be living on campus, I will probably be spending more time on the weekend's at their house, than at my own.</p>

<p>Would it be possible to change my mailing address to the grandparent's house to get in state tuition?</p>

<p>How would I go about officially changing my resident state?</p>

<p>Any tips/help is appreciated.</p>

2

<p>How to be declared independent

[quote]
Are You an Independent Student?</p>

<p>The independent student definition created by Congress is strict and is considered controversial by many students and parents. However, Federal regulations related to the classification of a student's dependency status for financial aid must be followed by school financial aid administrators in determining one's eligibility for federal and state aid funds. Whether a student lives in his own home or apartment and/or claims himself as an exemption on his federal income tax return has nothing to do with a student being considered independent for financial aid purposes. </p>

<p>The only way a student can become independent for financial aid purposes (which means the custodial parents' income and asset information are not required on the FAFSA) is if the student meets at least one of the following guidelines:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>For the 2007-08 school year (yellow FAFSA), the student must be born before 1-1-1984; or for the 2008-09 school year (orange FAFSA), the student must be born before 1-1-1985);</p></li>
<li><p>The student must be married; or</p></li>
<li><p>The student must have a child or other dependents who receive more than half their support from the student; or</p></li>
<li><p>The student must be enrolled as a graduate student (master's, doctoral) or professional student (medicine, dentistry, or law); or</p></li>
<li><p>The student must be a qualified veteran of the U.S. military or be active duty in the U.S. military; or</p></li>
<li><p>The student must be an orphan (parents deceased) or ward of the court or was a ward of the court until age 18; or</p></li>
<li><p>The student must have special and unusual circumstances which can be documented to his or her college financial aid administrators (i.e., abuse in the family, alcoholism, etc.). This exception is rare and only an experienced financial aid administrator at your college can make this "dependency override" on the FAFSA application.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>If you are considered a dependent student and do not provide your parents information, your FAFSA will be rejected. Even though you may not be considered an independent student for financial aid purposes, you may still obtain a low-interest and attractive student loan ($2,625 to $18,500 per year, depending on your grade level in college), regardless of your parents income, as long as you are a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen with an alien registration number (permanent resident or "green card" number), attend a college that participates in the federal aid programs, have not defaulted on a previous federal educational loan, enroll at least half-time in a degree or certificate program, and have not been convicted of a federal drug offense. </p>

<p>The Federal Stafford/Direct Loan requires no payment on the principal until six months after the student leaves school. If you demonstrate financial need, the government pays the interest for you while in school (this is called a "subsidized" Stafford/Direct Loan). Interest rates on new educational loans for the 2005-06 year are 4.7% while in school for unsubsidized Stafford/Direct Loans and 5.3% while in repayment, grace, or forbearance periods.

[/quote]
</p>

3

<p>The short answer to your question is No - you cannot change your residency. If it was that easy there would be no out of state tuition.</p>

<p>You do need to check the residency requirements of the state you are wanting to go to school in. In general it is not possible to change your residency in order to get in-state tuition. Putting your grandparents, aunt or whoever as your address does not work and is attempted fraud. Your parents state of residency is your state of residency for tuition purposes. The school will see all your information - the high school you graduated from etc. and will know you are not an instate resident. Even if you were an independent student most states require you to have lived in the State (and prove it with work, drivers license etc) for at least a year - sometimes more - for instate tuition. Also living in a State because you are going to school there does not make you a resident for tuition purposes.</p>

<p>Check the website for the college you are thinking of. They should have residency requirements or a link to residency requirements.</p>

4

<p>A lot of students in your situation have the same idea, but it won't work; state colleges have a responsibility to the in-state taxpayers to make sure only certain people pay in-state tuition.</p>

5

<br>


<br>

<p>Simple answer. NO. If it were that easy, every out of state student would find some relative or friend and use their in state address. Each state has very specific criteria for establishing residency. BUT almost uniform, is the fact that you cannot do so WHILE you are attending college there. In other words, if you are enrolled in Out of State University, you cannot use that enrolled time to establish instate residency for tuition purposes. In most cases, you have to live in a state, support yourself (including your housing and school costs) for at least 12 months PRIOR to enrolling in college. And as pointed out by others...in MOST cases undergrad students residence is the state of residence of their parents. Also if you didn't graduate from HS in "out of state" state, the school will be VERY suspect of your in state residency request.</p>

6

<p>What state are your grandparents and hoped-for college in?</p>

7

<p>thumper1, swimcatsmom and other experts - just extending that a bit, i am asking another question. I know the (out-of-state) student doesn't get to pay the in-state tuition as long as he/she is dependent on the parent living out-of-state (student's residency is parent's dependency when the student is dependent on the parent).</p>

<p>Isn't this kind of anomaly - if the same parent had stayed for a year in the state (state where student's college is) the student would be charged in-state. </p>

<p>well, yeah, I know - parent's aren't paying their taxes to that state (of college), so they have to pay out-of-state.</p>

<p>'sigh' - if only it was so :(</p>

8

<p>
[quote]
Isn't this kind of anomaly - if the same parent had stayed for a year in the state (state where student's college is) the student would be charged in-state.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Not necessarily. Many states would require that the parent be employed in the state and take on a residence in the state (including paying taxes, registering a car, voting, etc.). Many states frown upon moving to a state simply for in state tuition and require a year's residency before doing so.</p>

<p>for example in VA...</p>

<p>
[quote]
Evidence of Domicile, Including but not Limited to: clear and convincing domicile for at least one year prior to the first day of the term in which enrolling, as evidenced by: payment or filing of Virginia resident income taxes; a VA driver's license and motor vehicle registration; employment; ownership of real property; voter registration and actual voting in Virginia; military records; sources of financial support; and social and economic ties in Virginia.

[/quote]
</p>

<p><a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/about/association/international/pdf/sr_VA01.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeboard.com/about/association/international/pdf/sr_VA01.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

9

<p>It varies from state to state. For a guide to the requirements of each state, see:
Guide</a> to State Residency</p>

10

<p>You have gotten some good replies here. Many states require your parents to live in state before you even get the in-state rates. I know friends who moved to Michigan but still paid OOS tuition that first year for their college student. But look at the college's rules for definition of in state. They do vary.</p>